#lecture - Michael O’Neill, a former member of Glenans is to present the opening Friends of Glenua's Winter 2017-2018 lecture series in Dublin early next month, see details below.

The opening lecture is 'The Lure of Sailing North to the Midnight Sun-Cruising Scotland and Beyond to Norway and Iceland'.

Michael O’Neill started sailing with the Glenans in Ireland and France in the late 1970's, and benefitted from the marvellous structure for learning cruising with experienced cruising skippers. His early Scottish cruises in the 8.5m Armagnacs introduced him to this varied and captivating cruising ground, dotted with islands and inlets, distilleries and dolphins, and blessed with long summer days.

The charms of Scottish cruising whetted Michael’s appetite for sailing to the far north to explore the unique attractions of volcanic Iceland. At this northerly latitude, the summer sun sets as late as midnight and, even then, the half-light remains through the night. In recent years, Michael has explored the archipelagos of west-coast Norway, Fair Isle and the Shetlands, culminating in the Orkneys and the Hebrides this summer.

In his illustrated presentation, he will recount fond memories from these cruises, and explore the challenges and charms involved with sailing the remote northern seas.

Venue: Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club, Ringsend, Dublin 4. 

Date: Thursday 5 October 2017 (20:00hrs)

Admission: There will be an entry fee of €5 in aid of the RNLI.

#LectureLusitania - The Winter lecture 2015/16 season of the Glenua Sailing Centre resumes with the return to the venue of the Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club, Ringsend, Dublin, this Thursday, 1st October at 8pm.

The topic for this season’s opening lecture “The Sinking of the Lusitania” will be illustrated and presented by Cormac F. Lowth. An entry fee of €5 is in aid of the R.N.L.I.

Cormac is well-known as a superb researcher, lecturer and writer on many aspects of Irish maritime history. This lecture will examine, with many rare images of her interior, various aspects of the Lusitania focusing on the innovative nature of her construction and prominence as a luxury Trans-Atlantic passenger liner.

The lecture will also delve into the mysteries surrounding the last fateful voyage of the Lusitania from New York to include the alleged cargo of the ship, the activities of British Naval Intelligence and the involvement of ‘Room 40’ in breaking German codes, the German U-20 torpedo attack on the Lusitania and the massive second explosion that sank the ship.

Cormac will then describe the rescue of the survivors, the propaganda campaign that followed the sinking and the tragic aftermath, when, despite an inquest, an official enquiry, various salvage attempts and diving investigations of the wreck, conspiracy theories and rumours abound right up to 2015, a hundred years later.

Among the reports earlier this year on Afloat.ie was the RMS Lusitania commemoration centenary ceremony hosted by Cunard and the Port of Cork, led by President Michael D Higgins in Cobh to mark the 100th anniversary of the liner's sinking off the Cork coast.

Notable, the Cunard liner 'Queen Victoria' arrived at Cobh cruise terminal with 2,144 passengers as part of a seven night 'Lusitania Remembered' voyage, following a wreath-laying ceremony held on board in the early hours off the wreck site off Old Head of Kinsale.

Later that same day ashore, four glass headstones were unveiled, having been commissioned for the centenary by the Port of Cork and Cunard, at the Old Church Graveyard where 170 victims of the Lusitania are buried in what were previously unmarked graves.